Team manager Andy Stevenson told German outlet Auto Motor und Sport: "When I stand in front of the car, I can read the number perfectly. From the grandstand, too. From lower down, it is not visible, but there is nothing in the rules about that. There are perspectives with every car on which the number is not visible."

Sporting boss Szafnauer, who went to high school in Michigan and attended Wayne State University in metro Detroit, said the entire issue is triggered by commercial considerations for the small, overachieving Silverstone-based team.

"As you know, Force India does well on the track but is not as strong in the commercial area, which is related to the way revenues are distributed in Formula 1," he said. "But the approach of the commercial rights holders is what it is, so we have to maximize the way we work with sponsors. To do this, we need to make optimal use of the space on the car.

"Personally, I think we could come up with a better way to distinguish the cars on the track."